Poseidon is the god of the sea, of rivers and springs, of water in general.
Water is the primordial substance from which arises, and which nourishes all forms of creation.
On the other hand, water also has a destructive force and can resorb the forms of creation.
Thus, although he is considered the protective God of Navigation, Poseidon often takes revenge
and creates storms at sea, floods, or dries up territories, reconfiguring the shores of
the seas.
Another hypostasis of Poseidon is that of the god of earthquakes, which the Greeks explained
by the eruption of geysers.
His strength is described in Homer's work, the Iliad, where, with the blows of his trident,
the god shakes the earth so hard that the mountains tremble, and the kingdom of the
depths risks to overflow.
In the Mycenaean period, Poseidon was one of the supreme gods.
Later, in the Greek tradition, his role decreases, and together with Zeus and Hades, they share
control over the universe.
In most versions of the birth myth, Poseidon is the second child born of Rhea and shares
the same fate as his brothers, being swallowed by his father Cronus, because he feared that
one of his descendants would take his throne.
Later, Poseidon is saved by his brother Zeus.
In other versions of the myth, Rhea gives Cronus a foal instead of Poseidon, or he is
thrown into the sea immediately after birth.
After Cronus was dethroned by his sons, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades drew lots for the world
and its realms.
Thus, the sky and heaven were won by Zeus, the seas came into Poseidon's possession,
and the underworld returned to Hades.
From then on, Poseidon will live on the bottom of the sea in various palaces he builds in
the Aegean Sea, and will travel through his realm in a golden chariot drawn by dolphins
and other sea creatures.
He leaves his domain only to attend the gatherings of the gods of Olympus.
Poseidon marries the nereid Amphitrite who becomes the goddess of the calm sea and the
safe passage through storms.
It is said that only her voice could stop Poseidon's anger.
From their union, three children are born.
Triton, a creature with a human body and a fish tail that becomes the messenger of the
sea, Rode, the goddess and personification of the island of Rhodes, and Benthesicyme,
the marine goddess of deep waves.
Poseidon also falls in love with his sister Demeter, whom he pursues while she was looking
for her daughter Persephone.
To get rid of him, the goddess metamorphoses into a mare.
But Poseidon turns into a horse and manages to win her heart.
From the union of the two are born Arion, an immortal horse, and Despoina, the protective
goddess of nature and the animal world, whose cult was worshiped in the sanctuary of Lycosura,
a city in the region of south Arcadia.
An interpretation of this union may be that Demeter as the goddess of the fertile earth
needs the element of water.
Poseidon's primordial strength is also expressed through the children he conceives.
Many of them being huge and unstoppable creatures such as Orion, the giant hunter, Anteus, the
giant defeated by Heracles, or Polyphemus, the Cyclop blinded by Odysseus.
In mythology, Poseidon is often depicted in an attempt to conquer different territories
by fighting other gods, but invariably loses them.
A great myth tells the story of a contest between Poseidon and Athena, for the city
of Athens.
Poseidon gave the people the miracle stallion, Pegasus.
But Athena won their hearts by giving them the olive tree, which became the symbol of
the city.
At the same time, he tries unsuccessfully to claim the Aegina Island from Zeus, the
Argolis region from Hera, Naxos from Dionysus, and Corinth from Helios.
While the other gods intervene in many ways in human life, Poseidon is rather involved
in transformations of the substance and the concrete forms of Nature, and he is mentioned
in myths about the sea and earthquakes.
However, in Olympus, he is the only one who dares to protest against the universal supremacy
of Zeus and would like his dominion to be limited to the skies and heavens.
This was the story of Poseidon, the God of the seas, of the rivers, the springs, and
the God of water in general.
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